In Boston this past Saturday it was 47?. In Seattle and Chicago it was 55? and 43? respectively. But this is Malibu where it was 69? with the occasional cool breeze making it one of the only places in the United States to play a fun comfortable game of baseball.
Waves baseball took the field for the first time this year to partake in the Blue and Orange World Series a Pepperdine versus Pepperdine best of five series that has become an annual fall tradition for the baseball team. Full of positive support from both squads each player looked to prove himself out on the diamond in hopes of acquiring a starting spot when the season kicks off in the spring.
Despite being only the first two practice games of the season there was plenty for the coaches and fans to look forward to this upcoming season.
“I felt like both teams did very well sophomore second baseman Joe Sever said. Both pitching staffs threw a lot of strikes and kept the amount of walks very limited which is always a good sign at this time of the year. Last year not being able to throw strikes really hurt our team so its good to see that this year is looking different so far.”
In game one it was starter Aaron Gates junior of the Orange team and Scott Frazier freshman of the blue team starting off the game strong each throwing no-run ball for the first three innings. Gates made key pitches when he needed to stranding nine runners on base after four innings and allowing only one run. Opposing starting pitcher Frazier was equally good throwing just three-hit ball after four innings. Frazier ran into trouble in the fourth however giving up three singles and a hard-hit slicing double into the right-center field gap off the bat of sophomore Joe Sever. Both starting pitchers were out of the game before the sixth inning. Gates and Frazier threw 80 and 79 pitches respectively.
The bullpens for both teams were equally impressive. For the Orange team right-hander sophomore Jared Lee got over four innings of work striking out four and utilizing his effective breaking ball—a pitch that worked most effectively against opposing right-handers. The only real mistake Lee made was a slight miss in location to right fielder freshman Bryan Langlois who hit a shot out for a two-run home run making Lee pay for the walk issued to teammate Brian Humphries the at-bat before. For the Blue team it was sophomore Alex Najera who relieved Frazier going three and a third innings striking out four and only giving up one run. Pitchers Ricky Villarreal junior and Brian McIlhenny sophomore closed out the games for their respective teams giving up no runs in one inning pitched and each striking out one.
The game ended in a five-five tie each team with ten hits and with the decision to not go extra innings for an exhibition game. Nevertheless the game was an exciting one with the highlights being Langlois’ homerun in the fifth inning a great spinning play throw over to first base by second baseman Joe Sever and perhaps best of all an outfield assist from right fielder David DiPaola who threw out a runner at home to end the inning and get Gates out of a jam.
“I felt that the overall intensity and attitude of both teams was a good sign to see and will definitely help us come February Sever said. Overall i feel that this year should be a lot different than last year for the better all starting with the new intense attitude that this years team has. I am very excited.”
Come root on our Waves in Games 4 and 5 on November 13th and 14th! Why not? It’s free!